The Aftermath
by dancer211505
Summary: This is a fanfiction piece based on the amazing Maze Runner series! It's set two years after TDC. It has references concerning all the books; The Kill order, The Maze runner, The Scorch Trials and the Death Cure. It intertwines loose ends left by JD with events following tdc while having crazy plot twists and bar-raisers. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ AT LEAST THE 3 MAIN BOOKS.
1. Chapter 1 and 2

The Aftermath

1

I woke up, calmly. Which was unusual for me. Perhaps living in peace for the past two years was starting to cure my chronic anxiety. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was what Doc diagnosed me with. At times I would have hallucinations and panic attacks here and there but nothing major. Being close to Brenda always seemed to calm me though. My eyes drift to the side of the bed where she was sleeping. Her chest rising and falling with even breaths and her long brown hair somehow managed to fall perfectly around her beautiful face. Thoughts of last night flood my mind. Like waves they wash away and at the same time try to replace memories of the Maze, Grievers, and all the crap WICKED had done. But, as I lay there, I realize those memories will never fade. There are things I will never be able to forget. Images that have been branded within my mind like, holding Chuck in my arms as the life drained his body, Alby committing suicide, and being betrayed by Teresa then watching her take her last breath. But there is a memory that stands out over the rest. One that I think about every moment of everyday. Something I did that I will never forgive myself for. Not telling Minho what really happened to his best friend, becomes growingly difficult every time I see him. Remorse eats away at me like the venom of the Brown Recluse Spider eats away at flesh. How could I have done that?! How could I shoot my best friend point blank in the head?! I couldn't even pay his body the respect it deserved. I could feel every muscle in my body start to tremble. Images of Newt's corpse lying on the ground take over my thoughts and overthrow the pleasant memories of making love to Brenda. And then I'm there. Begging Newt not to make me do it. No longer in my bed sheltered by the steel walls of the Safe House we built after fleeing the infected world. "Paradise" is what they call it here. And it is for everyone else.

"Newt, stop. Just listen to me. I know you're okay in there. Enough to hear me out." My voice quivered with every word.

"I hate you Tommy."

"Newt. You need to stop. They're going to shoot you. Just stop and listen to me!"

"Do it Tommy." He said approaching me.

"No." I whispered while shaking my head.

"Do it Tommy!" I remember his voice becoming louder and sterner. His eyes narrowing. It felt so real. I tried to remind myself nothing about it was real but I succumbed to my hallucination. I felt him tackling me and pinning me to the concrete.

"Do it Tommy! Do it! I swear to god if you don't kill me I'll kill you!" he shouted.

"I can't." the words barely left my mouth.

"I should rip your eyes out!" he barked. Then his eyes softened. "Don't let me suffer Tommy. Please don't let me. Don't let me waste away. Just end it!" His pleading rung my heart and his screams vibrated my skull. He forced my revolver to his head. "DO IT! DO IT NOW! DO IT DAMN IT DO IT!"

"NNOOOOOOOOO!" I heard Brenda's voice over mine. She was yelling,

"Thomas! Thomas stop it! Thomas it's not real!" Waking from the dream I came to my senses. I was sitting in bed shaking with Brenda's hands gently placed on my jaw and cheeks. My heart was racing. I was breathing heavily and my head felt was going to explode. But Brenda spoke to me in a soft, whispery voice,

"You're okay. It's the PTSD." Her words and just her being there made me feel at peace again. I eventually got up. The smell of Frypan's cooking wafting through the Safe House air vents could always get me out of bed.

"Hey. Brenda." Her angelic face turned to me.

"Thanks for bringing me back."

"Well I'm not gunna leave you in there. Who would keep me company? Certainly not a crazy person." She chuckled. Which made me do the same. I walked over to our bathroom, took a cold shower, stepped on my digital scale that read "5'11, 175 lbs, 87% muscle, 13% fat " in holographic 3D numbers, and got dressed. I still wasn't used to looking at myself in the mirror, light brown eyes stared back at me and the tattoo WICKED marked me with still looked fresh. The words "To be killed by group B" ran across my shoulder in black ink; a constant reminder that I once belonged to WICKED. Minho and the other Gladers still had theirs too. Brenda did a nice job when she cut my hair though. I didn't think the fohawk look would suit me but it did. Rice, eggs, and fresh berries were for breakfast. Resources were running low. Meant Minho, Jorge and I would have to head into the city. Well it used to be a city. Now its ruins filled with cranks and deserted buildings stocked with untouched merchandise. Guess the cranks aren't interested in mops, furniture and cheese puffs. I noticed Brenda and I had finished eating at the same time. She turned to me and said,

"Damn. A teaspoon of rice, an egg, and 5 raspberries. We need food." I couldn't help but smile. Somehow all that we went through didn't change her. She's still the sarcastic, badass bitch that hit on me the day I met her in Mexico.

"Yeah Minho, Jorge, and I are taking the Berg the chancellor gave us to get some supplies.", I said while putting my arm around her shoulder and placing a kiss on her cheek, she leaned into my chest.

2

The guys and I walked down the exit hallway of the Safe House. It's lit by warm colored ceiling lights and the floor is covered with a brown suede carpet (the same carpet in every room on level 1 and 2.) The walls are painted white. The Safe House is completely made of steel and unobtainium. Leaving the walls and floors bare would have made the place look like WICKED headquarters. And that's the last place we wanted to be reminded of. Lights with an orange brown tint makes the SH feel homey. An elevator at the end of the hallway is carved into the bedrock in which the Safe House is built. How did we build it? _We_ didn't. But Minho and I designed the blue prints for it. All the sketching and mapping we did in the Glade actually came in handy. A team sent from the chancellor built it. I didn't really know the chancellor. But Brenda trusted her, and she did kind of save my life back at WICKED HQ. The house is equipped for anything, nuclear war, earthquakes, even a major flood. The Berge we were given is the newest generation of craft; it can navigate the floor of the Mariana Trench and then fly out into space. Pretty nice setup we have here. The Safe House is quite the wonder if I do say so myself. As we step inside the Plexiglas elevator, an artificial male voice speaks from a small box in the corner,

"Good morning Minho. Jorge. Thomas."

"Good morning VAOS." Minho's words seemed to reverberate around the elevator walls. I looked at him strangely but he didn't notice. "Level 6 please."

"Getting an early start this morning on some errands are we?" The elevator voice inquired. I could never hold a conversation with that thing. VAOS. Acronym for "Voice Activated Operating System." Never was a huge fan of human-like artificial intelligence. I'd prefer people to run the systems of the house than a computer. _Good_ people. During our ascent we could see each level. Level 2 is the living quarters. A gigantic living room with puffy chairs, soft sofas, a mini bar, all the games and gaming consoles you could think of, a hologram system that has every movie ever made in 2D, 3D, and 4D, and a snack bar for when gaming makes you hungry. Level 2 walls are painted a beige tan-ish color, the room itself is a huge circle (all the rooms are a spherical but vary in size), a large circular cherry red sofa is in the middle of the room and is topped with yellow and brown velvet pillows. Each section of the couch faces a white cylinder shaped projector that creates a holographic screen by emitting streams of light. This is where most of the kids spend their time. But to make sure they don't live on level 2 and game their eyes out, everyone is required to spend at least 26 hours a week outside on the surface. We can't be moles twenty-four-seven. Level 3 is the cafeteria and kitchen, where Frypan spends most of his time. He has the most difficulty getting in his 26 because he's always cooking. He didn't want the kitchen to be high-tech so by request we made it an exact replica of the one in the Glade. Said he cooks best "with traditional kitchenware." And it seems to be true. The cafeteria isn't anything all that special. Just a grey room with a few buffet stands and some tables and chairs. Some people take their food to level 2 and eat there. Level 4 is my place of amity. The training level. I almost stopped the elevator and let Minho go to the city and restock on supplies so I could get in a few sets, buuutttt I figured they'd need my help. I could see the weight room, weapons training unit, obstacle course, and the gymnast's room complete with balance beams, bars, rings, vaults, and mats. The weapons training unit is well equipped with every hand held weapon imaginable such as throwing knives, old 2014 model guns like sniper rifles and hand guns. But the chancellor donated some of WICKED's newest creations like fourth generation launchers. Faster, automatic, more accurate, higher voltage, and more advanced than ever. We have immune refugees that know a thing or two about self-defense and became trainers. Level 5 is the lab. The most technologically advanced and expensive room in the entire facility. It has the best of the best in medical and forensic equipment the government could buy, what's left of the government anyway. The white room with tile flooring is filled with metal and plastic beeping machines. It also serves as our infirmary but hardly anyone ever gets sick. I can see Doc pacing back and forth in his lab coat, mumbling something to himself as usual. His real name is Michael but everyone calls him Doc. His tall stature makes him look lanky and a little awkward. His sandy blonde hair is always cut short and his eyes have an icy look to them. His elongated jaw and well-proportioned features make him a popular subject among the girls in the Safe House. He says he's 21 but I can tell he's a little older than that. The lab is another favorite place of mine. Turns out I've always had a thing for science and supposedly am some kind of boy genius. Guess that's how I got wrapped up in helping WICKED build the Maze and conducting experiments. Something else I had a hard time forgiving myself for. Finally Level 6. The transport deck is where we keep the Berg and is the exit and entrance of the Safe House.

"Aye bella", said Jorge as he admired his "baby".

"Jorge. English. Please." Minho exclaimed.

"Why you need tuh know everything that I say Vatos?"

"How do you say it? Oh right, sarah lah bockah." Minho knew very little Spanish and could never speak it with the correct pronunciation. Which pissed Jorge off to the core of his being.

"It's cerra la boca idiota, Ce_rrrr_a with the rolling of the tongue when pronouncing the "r"." Jorge tried to explain.

"I have no idea what I just said. I just said it to piss you off." Jorge returned Minho a death glare.

I jumped in and said, "You told Jorge to shut up now both of you actually shut up and get in the Berg."

"Whoa wait hablas español?" Then I thought about it. How did I know what Jorge was saying?

"I don't know I just kind of knew what you were saying." An awkward silence fell over the crew and an array of odd looks were exchanged as we boarded the aircraft. Jorge fired up the thrusters and the propellers began to rotate. We sat in silence. I couldn't shake the weird feeling I had. How did I know Spanish? The tickle in the back of my mind that I was so familiar with had returned. The one I had daily in the Glade, like a memory was being blocked and I couldn't reach it. My thoughts were interrupted by Minho saying,

"It never gets old." He was looking out of the Berg side window at the landscape below. The view was extraordinary. Beneath the craft lay snowcapped mountains, evergreen forests, green valleys dotted with flowers of all colors, and cliffs that were highlighted by the sun. At the bottom of the cliffs is the Atlantic Ocean; an enormous blue blanket with white seams. When the chancellor came to visit she informed us that we had landed in what was once Maine. It really is paradise. But I still couldn't relish it. The lingering bitterness I had left from watching so many people I cared about slowly die put a damper on things. The chancellor is a kind hearted, well put together woman who has given us everything. And I'm grateful. Truly am. But she's an associate of WICKED, and there will always be a part of me that will never fully trust her. Within the hour the landscape had changed. It had transformed from evergreen forest to a hot, dry, barren dessert. Jorge started our decent and ten minutes later we could hear the propellers slowing down. The blades sounded like they were chopping the wind and the heat from the thrusters made the landscape look blurry.

"Alright boys lets load up and roll out." Jorge said while shutting down the Berg. He whipped out his keypad, punched in some numbers and instantly a cargo compartment door slowly opened from the interior side of the Berg. A revolving shelf displayed rows of weapons. Cranks had become more vicious and active within the past year. I grabbed my go-to guns. A 2012 model 12 gauge shotgun and my trusty revolver. I made sure to take extra shells. Just in case. Going into the city was always an adrenaline rush. I looked around,

"Everyone ready?" With their weapons in hand they both nodded. "Of course you are. Jorge . Let's do this." he punched in the code that opens the Berg's cargo door. We all grabbed a pair of UV protection glasses that were stored in a side compartment and readied ourselves. The sun was hot and blaring in the Scorch. Wind picked up sand from the desert floor and blew it into our faces.

"I thought you said there wouldn't be any wind Jorge!" Minho yelled over a blustering gale.

"Do I look like Al Roker to you mehn? No one can predict the weather." We decided to cover our faces. The way the clay brown cloth wrapped around our mouths, noses and foreheads made us look like we were searching for Aladdin's magic carpet. Jorge and I wore long sleeved shirts, jeans and a pair of boots. The ozone was weakened by the sun flares and in some places almost nonexistent. Those places are easy to spot though. A gaping hole in the earth marks a "no-zone"- an area where the ozone is wax paper thin. The sun's heat is so intense there it slowly melts away the earth's surface. To show off that he could handle the blazing heat of the sun and skin scraping dust Minho wore a muscle-T, shorts that fell to his knees, and flip-flops. As we stepped of the Berg I looked at Minho in disbelief,

"My god you're insane." Minho shot a look in my direction,

"What? It's hot out here!"

"Yeah that's _why_ we cover up." I said

"Sun will burn you a live amigo."

"Yeah and I'm not dragging your extra crispy ass back to the Safe House."

"Ooooohh yes you will." I smiled and shook my head at him. I could feel him smiling behind me. Once we reached the city the buildings provided shade and blocked some of the wind, so we pulled the cloths away from our mouths and foreheads and pocketed our glasses. _Los Angeles Pub and Grill_ read one of the signs still hanging above the door of a broken down restaurant. Eventually almost all of what was California became part of the Scorch. A small _clang_ penetrated the stillness. We stopped walking. Sounded like a can falling and hitting cement.

"What was that?" Minho said in a calm yet curious voice.

"No idea. We should keep moving." Though we weren't yelling, our voices seemed to echo. Jorge agreed and we walked on. We reached the bulk food store we normally raid for dry and canned goods. Sometimes clothes, tools and cooking utensils were still lying around. To get items on the Berg we use a portable flat trans. At first it's just a small metal cube but once you place the cube against a wall or flat on the floor, and twist each side in a certain pattern, the small box melts and becomes a shimmering plane. Unfortunately the portal isn't big enough for large items or people. "Minho!" I yelled across the aisle.

"What?!"

"What else do we need on the list?" I said while throwing items down the flat trans on the floor.

"Uuuhh I think…", but before he could finish a female crank sprang through the shelves and buried Minho in a pile of soup cans. She snarled and started to grab at Minho's throat. Minho forced her off of him with incredible strength. The woman fell back which gave him time to emerge from the can pile. She stood up, pointed her eyes, growled like a rabid cat and then hunched over like she suddenly had a thousand pounds weighing down her back. There was a series of _crack_s that we heard coming from the woman's spine. We watched them bubble under skin. Black viscous tentacle-like appendages broke through her flesh. They were a thick liquid substance, yet solid at the same time. The black growths reminded me of how the Grievers skin looked, and how the flying metallic liquid appeared that came from the ceiling of the Underneath-the stuff that encased Winston's head and eventually took his life. Oozy and plasma-like. The arms swayed behind her-resembling the movements of a scorpion's tail. Then they started to join together; bending and blending into one another, to from. _Wings!?_ All of us stepped back in confusion and amazement. Her teeth became like bladed hooks. Her nails talons. She bent her knees, stretched her black wings, and lifted off. Her wings caught the air and she flew straight for us. Her mouth opened inhumanly wide, revealing rows of knife like teeth. She let out a piercing screech. I quickly reached for my shotgun, aimed it, pumped a shell into the chamber, and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun firing bellowed around the store. The crank woman fell to the ground. Half her brain landed in the other aisle in pieces. Jorge just stared at her,

"Anyone ever seen one do _that_ before?" No one answered. After a few seconds of staring at the crank's corpse we heard running. The sound of many feet coming into contact with the ground.

"We needa get out of here now! There are too many!" I closed up the flat trans, and ran to the exit in the back of the supermarket. We ran like we did back in the maze, for our lives. The Berg wasn't far but it wasn't close either. On our way we passed a no-zone and lost some of the mob to the hole and the suns heat. The Berg was in sight. Jorge already had the door opening and we were almost there when a young man ran out in front of us from behind the Berg. I stopped dead in my tracks. Crank mob or no crank mob I couldn't move. My heart felt like it had stopped beating. Minho gaped intently and Jorge was in shock. I was numb. Paralyzed. The world around me came to an abrupt halt. The young man was flailing his arms and yelling but my sense were shot. I barley heard Minho in a voice full of uncertainty say,

"Newt?"


	2. Chapter 3

3

"What? That's not my name." But he looked exactly like him. Like Newt. I mean identical. Except this Newt had shorter hair. Jorge realized we were still being chased, and as he noticed the cranks were about to be on top of us he shouted,

"Get in! Just get in! C'mon!" Newt ran in first then Jorge and Minho, but before I could reach the platform a male crank grabbed my leg and slammed me into the ground. The wind was knocked out of my chest. I struggle to break free from the grips of at least ten cranks. My muscles began to contract and I thrashed as hard as I could but I couldn't break free. An unusual energy welled up inside of me and almost as if it was a reflex I screamed, and felt the energy burst like a balloon that had been filled with too much air. A mysterious force had thrown the mob of cranks into the air and made them slide across the sandy ground as they fell. I stood up and stumbled backward into the Berg. The door closed. And we lifted off. I sat down next to Minho and Newt. I ignored what had happened and focused on my friend's ghost. Minho's forehead was furrowed with confusion. We both couldn't take our eyes off of him. Finally, Minho spoke up and asked the question that was on everyone's mind,

"Who are you?"

"My name is James." He even had the same voice and accent as Newt. Then the words just spilled out of my mouth,

"You look exactly like him, maybe you just don't remember, it'd make sense that you wouldn't were you cured is there a cure? How is this even remotely possible?! How did you survive?! Why are you so clean and healthy looking?! Where did you come from how did you.." The boy interrupted,

"Bloody hold it! I'll answer every buggin' question you have. Just one at a time." He looked just as frightened and confused as we were. Minho collected himself and digressed,

"Does the name Newt mean anything to you?"

"No if I had heard a name like that I would have remembered." I shot him. I shot him in the head. Even if he somehow survived that, the Flare would have taken him by now. My curiosity got the better of me,

"Then why the hell do you look exactly like him?"

"I had a twin." He said shrugging his shoulders. Minho and I looked at each other and asked in unison,

"What was his name?"

"Isaac." He read me with his eyes, "You look oddly familiar."

"Yeah so do you. I spent a month in a giant box with a guy that looked exactly like you." We arrived back at the SH. Two enormous doors hidden in the side of the rocky cliff I sat on when we first came here, slid open and the Berg descended into the dark carved out cave within the rock that led to level 6. We reached the Berg platform. James was scanning the stony walls incasing us. We took the elevator to level 1, the sleeping quarters. This level is the second largest level (the largest is level 6), and houses the 200 WICKED escapees we saved the day we brought down WICKED HQ. The walls of level 1 are painted tan and wall lamps with maroon colored shades are placed next to each bedroom door. Each room has an automatic sliding door that can only be opened with a retinal scan. I directed James to my room and leaned forward so the scanner could read my retinal pattern. Beams of blue light projected from a small glass window on the side of my door, and traced my iris and pupil, the lights dissipated and a green light above the window blinked on. The door clicked, slid open and VAOS's robotic voice greeted me saying,

"Welcome back Thomas. How was your morning?" I ignored the question. James didn't seem to be fazed by the talking glass window and the eye scanner. Brenda was sitting on our bed and once we made eye contact we both smiled. But when James stepped out from behind me her gaze focused on him and her smile faded. Her joyful expression was replaced by a look of confusion and shock. Her jaw dropped and her finger raised and pointed at him. I put my arms around her,

"Yeah we're figuring it out." I turned to James and told him, "You can barrow some of my clothes for now. Docs going to run some blood tests to. Get some answers. We also need to…"

"I'm immune. Don't worry."

"Ask. A few more. Questions. I'll give you the grand tour tomorrow. Dinner's at seven and its lights out at twelve. You'll be sleeping in Minho's room tonight." Those words sounded extremely familiar. Alby. It had been two years since I took the square elevator to hell. Minho showed James to his room while Brenda and I sat on the black and white comforter covering our bed.

"Do you think this could be WICKED somehow?"

"I don't think so. The Chancellor said the experiments and trials had ended."

"You're right. The chancellor doesn't play dirty like the rest of them. She wouldn't let the trials go on."

"What if her colleges tried to stop her? And decided to take matters into their own hands?"

"That would never happen. It doesn't work like that."

"Sure about that Brenda? Things are changing. Again. You should have seen what we saw today in the city."

"What did you see?" Before I could answer her VAOS brought an incoming call on the holographic screen in our room to our attention.

"Incoming call from Michael on level 5."

"Answer." A second later Doc's face appeared on the screen, projected by the white metal device attached to the wall facing our bed.

"Ah there's the Safe House's favorite couple." Doc has a strong British accent. Another reason the ladies fall all over him.

"What do you want?"

"Yes nice to see you too Thomas. I'm ready to run some tests on the young man you found today. The Newt Doppelganger."

"He's in Minho's room. I'll go get him"

"Brilliant." The screen faded out. Minho, James, Brenda and I took the elevator to level 5. James had changed into one of my long sleeved shirts and khaki pants; they were some of my old clothes that were now too small, so they fit him pretty well. When we arrived Doc was surrounded by an array of scientific equipment, and sitting in front of a tangible holographic screen called a "Holo-screen". This type of holographic screen has an atomic structure that allows for sensory and computing capabilities.

"Hello there James. I'm Michael but everyone calls me Doc."

"Hi. Listen I have a few questions of my own so can we get on with this?"

"Yes! Yes we can certainly get on with it. If you could just give me your arm." James rolled up his sleeve and hesitantly extended his forearm.

"You're not afraid of needles are you?", Doc said jokingly while bowing his head and looking over his glasses.

"Just do it quickly." He was about to insert the needle to draw blood but James quickly yanked his arm away.

"Okay, okay, wait I'm not ready, just, just give me a sec. Needle is sterile right?"

"James we don't have all day." My words were edged with impatience.

"I know but.."

"Okay. Thomas. Sedate him." I grabbed a syringe and took a step toward James.

"NO! no. No need for sedating. Just take the sample."

"Right then." James closed his eyes and wrinkled his face in discomfort.

"You see now that wasn't so bad was it?" I crossed my arms and asked,

"Doc how long will the results take."

"Patience is a virtue Thomas." he exclaimed scuffling around the lab.

"Five? Ten minutes? C'mon I need answers." I could tell he was getting miffed by the change in his voice when he said,

"What? What is all this bumbling about!? About five minutes yes the DNA extractor is warming up now could you all please sit down or something. Your unbearable negative vibes are disrupting my concentration. What is the big rush anyway?" For some reason there was a sense of urgency, and I couldn't put my figure on why it was there. I walked up to him, leaned on the desk he was sitting at, he looked up at me slowly, and I spoke a little above a whisper,

"This guy claims he's Newt's twin." Doc scanned James.

"Well that is interesting now isn't it."

"Anyway to find out if that's actually true?"

"Yes but I would need something of Newt's that contains his DNA." I sighed,

"I don't think I have…" Then it hit me. The note Newt gave me. The one telling me to kill him. It would have his skin cells on it just from holding the paper. It'd be a long shot but worth a try.

"I think I might have something. For now just make sure he's immune."

"Aye aye captain." For some reason Doc's sarcasm never annoyed me. While we waited for the results Minho and I decided to question James in a side room. Minho was full of questions,

"Where did you come from and how did you get into the Scorch?"

"I escaped the WICKED facility in Moscow. I took a Berg and flew as far away as possible. Flying it was easy, landing… Not so much." I stepped in and said,

"No. That's impossible we destroyed the WICKED Head Quarters, the corporation fell apart Chancellor said so herself."

"I heard about your glorious escape." He looked impressed. "But no. You didn't completely shut down the organization. You only took down _one_ of their facilities. There were originally three. And since you literally live under a rock, I can see why you haven't heard that Miss Eva Paige has 'gone missing'. They are still performing experiments. And not to find a cure." My heart raced and my face heated. Brenda and I looked at each other. We both knew she was probably dead. That's how WICKED worked. I could see Brenda's heart cracking by her mournful expression, but it didn't break.

"What kind of experiments are they performing?" I asked.

"The kind people will be ashamed of in the future. When they read about it in history Holo-books."

"What makes you so sure the human race will last that long?"

"Because I have hope. You are all testaments of that. Against all odds you survived the sun flares, the trials, the virus, and escaped here to rebuild the human race. Except it hasn't been completely destroyed yet."

"How do you know so much?"

"You were all something of celebrities at the MF. You even inspired people to try to escape. That didn't end well for them."

"Where you apart of the experiments?" Minho chimed.

"Yes. Both Isaac and I were."

"We know Newt… I mean Isaac was a part of them. We all were a part of their experiments."

"No. No you guys were not a part of the experiments being performed at the MF."

"MF?"

"Moscow Facility. The experiments are different there than what you all went through."

"Yeah you still haven't told us exactly how they are different other than the fact that they aren't looking for a cure."

"That's because you don't want to know. And I don't want to talk about it." After being quite for a while Brenda spoke up,

"So then let's back up. You said you and Isaac were at the MF right? Then how did he get into the Glade?"

"We were five when WICKED took us from our family in Yorkshire England. He was fourteen when they transferred him to the Alaska Facility. That's the one you escaped from. Must have been quit the escape. I heard they had an invisible flat trans that led to the Scorch. Is that true?"

"Yes it is. Now, why would they transfer him?" I asked. He turned away before answering and his eyes brimmed with water.

"Because they needed him to be the glue. He was always stronger physically.", he said choking back tears. His words tore through me.

"So they never took your memories at all?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because they want us to remember. They want us to remember all that we lost so that it makes us emotionally desensitized. More like mentally insane."

"But they took Newt's memory."

"Yes."

"Have you been able to contact the rest of your family at all? Ever?" I asked hopefully. But James just shook his head while blankly staring at the floor. Then he replied in a sorrowful whisper,

"They're dead. All of WICKED's subjects are orphaned before being experimented on."

"The hell do you mean 'orphaned'?" Fury boiled the blood under my skin.

"WICKED. Murders their subject's parents. So that they own them. So that the kids become their property. Even if the parents are infected and are going to die anyway, they end them before the virus does." The room began to spin. I blacked out. But I woke up on my knees with Brenda's face in front of mine and Minho's arms restraining me. I was wheezing. My throat was sore as if I had screamed at the top of my lungs. James was on the floor covering his head. And the room looked like a tornado had blown through it. Chairs were toppled over, papers everywhere, everything had been turned. I started to come-to again and my hearing returned in time for me to hear Minho ask Brenda,

"What the hell just happened?" His voice was an echo in my head. Doc ran into the side room in the lab where we all were.

"How did he do that?!" Minho and Brenda both shrugged. What where they talking about? My head was throbbing and it hurt to look into the light. I caught a reflection of myself in one of the chair's metal legs. I couldn't believe my eyes. I literally couldn't believe my eyes they had turned neon green! And the veins under my skin had turned black! It looked like someone had painted thin black lines up my arms, neck, and the lower half of my face.

"Whats…Whats happening to me?!" The words were more like breathy gibberish. Doc looked at me in astonishment.

"I have no idea." The fact that he had never seen anything like this scared me. My eyes were pounding to the point where I had to cover them. My stomach was knotting up and my ears were ringing so loudly I couldn't hear a thing. Doc was trying to say something but I couldn't hear him over the ringing and the pain. I suddenly had the strangest tickle in my throat that caused me to cough up this, strange inky fluid. It came out of my nose, ears, and eyes. Everyone looked horrified. And I felt like death. "Okay Minho get him to the infirmary right now!" The room was a vortex and I was losing my grip on consciousness. Then, I let go.


	3. Chapter 4

4

I woke up and not in a tranquil state. Which was more normal for me. I had been put in an infirmary bed. James was sitting at the end of it holding a plate of Frypan's famous steak and potatoes and I had a monster in my stomach.

"I'll make a deal with you." Really? He wants to negotiate? I gave him a blank stare. "Give me some answers and I'll give you dinner." I sat up and put on a sarcastic smile,

"I have a better deal. Ready for this? How about. If you give me dinner I won't skin you alive." My smile disappeared. Doc came in and said to James,

"Just feed it and it won't hurt you." James got up and left the plate but as he was leaving he slowly turned to face me,

"I know where I've seen you."

"Yeah I've heard that before." When he left I immediately started to eat. The meat was bursting with flavor and the potatoes were whipped to perfection and topped with salt. Frypan had done it again.

"I have James's results back. He's immune."

"If he and Newt are really twins how can one be immune and not the other?" I asked with a mouth full of food.

"I have no idea but I can find out if you get me that item of Newt's."

"Yeah I can get it right now." He placed his hand on my shoulder and said,

"Ooohhh no. You are staying right here, so you can get better, and so that I can figure out what happened to you."

"But Doc I'm ff.."

"Nope! I don't want to hear it!" He looked at me over his glasses to show me how serious he was. I let out a sigh and lay back down because I knew he was right. I didn't know what happened or when it would happen again. I dozed off for the second time. Then a minute later, or what seemed to be a minute, I woke up in a small, grey, dark, concrete room. There was a grated opening in the ceiling that seemed to be the only exit and source of light. There were two young boys in a corner of the room. No older than five. They were in each other's arms and looked terrified, shivering and crying. Why were these poor kids locked up in such a horrible place? Who would do this? WICKED. A man peered down into the cell and said something in Russian but I couldn't make it out. The grated window in the ceiling opened and two mechanical arms reached down to grab one of the kids. They latched onto his arms and were raising him out of the cell but the boy didn't want to leave. He grabbed his brother's hand so the arms couldn't take him. He panted in panic and I could almost feel him scream in Russian,

"Neettt!" (no!) His brother held on to him,

"Eto normal'no Kai my vstretimsya snova. Ya obeshchayu." (Don't worry Kai we will see each other again. I promise.)

"Neett! Ya ne uydu bez tebya!" (No! I'm not leaving without you!), the boy being taken yelled in anguish.

"Priyti nayti menya, kogda vy pomnite." (Find me when you remember.) Their hands separated. The suspended boy scrambled to escape the clutch of the metallic arms but only tired himself trying. I could understand every word that was spoken between them. I could feel the surges of pain that squeezed both the boys' hearts. The boy being released looked into the light and I could see his face. He was me! Young me! The same young me I saw in my dreams while being in WICKED's isolation unit. I could see the face of the boy left behind. He also looked exactly like me! It wasn't possible! I didn't speak Russian or Spanish. I didn't have a brother let alone a twin! I didn't remember any of it! Then again my memories were wiped. I closed my eyes and tried to wake myself up from the horrible nightmare. I opened them, shot up in the sitting position, and desperately gasped for air. I was back on the infirmary bed with sweat beading off my forehead. Brenda's hand was on my chest, gently encouraging me to lie back down. Damn is she beautiful. Minho was standing next to me and James was giving me the most uncomfortable smile. My heart finally slowed to a normal rate.

"I need to talk to James. Alone." Minho began to say something but I stopped him,"Now." Everyone except James left and closed the door behind them. He stood in front of my bed with one hand over the other behind his back. The ridiculous smiled hadn't left his face. "Okay. Where have you seen me before?"

"The WICKED facility in Moscow. 13 years ago." Of course. "You and your twin were recruited the same day Isaac and I were." My memory must have been taken twice. Once when WICKED transferred me and then again before I went into the Glade. But how could I able to remember it all of the sudden? And that meant I still had family out there. A brother. Who had his memories. I didn't want anything to do with mine before but this changed everything. I couldn't believe I met Newt eleven years before the Glade either.

"Do you know if he's still there?! Is he still alive?! Would he remember me!?"

"Whoooaaa cool your jets mate. I'll answer your questions if you answer mine. And trust me. This you'll definitely want to know." I drew a deep breath and nodded.

"You'll answer my questions first." I demanded.

"What?! I answered first last…" I sprung up from the bed, grabbed him by the shirt and pinned him to the wall. My patients was running out. "You have 3 seconds to start talking."

"Aaaalright, alright I'll answer first. No problem. I can do that. If you let me go I'll um. Tell you anything you want to know." Kid was shaking in his boots. He was _nothing _like Newt. I let him go, stepped back, and folded my arms across my chest. Though I was annoyed with him I couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for him. Just because he had his memories didn't mean he knew where he was. Or where his brother was.

"When I was a prisoner of WICKED I heard rumors about your brother. Unbelievable things like, he has amazingly strong, black tentacle like arms extending from his back." Oh god.

"So he's not immune?" My heart sank. Drowned in fact.

"Oh no he's perfectly immune."

"I thought you said he.."

"You don't know do you. None of you do."

"What are you talking about?"

"There are three viruses- the Flare, and Flarevis 1 and 2. The Flare virus evolved and has branched into two more strains. The two daughter viruses have been mutating for eleven years. At first only immunes carried the mutated strains after being exposed to the Flare and the cranks only had the original Flare virus, but recently there had been reports of cranks mutating too. You're evolving Thomas. You're becoming a Celocrank. But I've never seen someone develop as acutely as you. And very few have telekinetic abilities. That would explain your bizarre behavior and ability to pulse. It would also explain why you have such intense hallucinations and panic attacks. Minho told me."

"Celocrank? Pulse? And exactly what is bizarre about my behavior? I have hallucinations and panic attacks because I have PTSD from being a human experiment subject."

"You don't believe me."

"I believe the virus is evolving the cranks, because I saw a she-crank grow wings out of her spine and fly at us, but not the immunes. So. You can start telling me the truth or.."

"I worked for WICKED intelligence. They forced me to work in the labs. I watched WICKED do horrible things to their prisoners. And I helped them. But I couldn't take it anymore. WICKED isn't "good". They're just a bunch of low life scientist playing God. What you saw was a Bansheecrack. A female Flarevis 1 mutant. Do you know why they created the Flare?"

"Bio-weaponry. They used it for population control."

"No."

"That's what the Chanc…"

"The Chancellor didn't even know what it was really for. The real purpose of the Flare virus was above top secret. She thought she knew everything, but the company had many secrets only a few knew about. I was one of those few. WICKED said they released it for population control after the sun flares. But if you think about it that doesn't make sense. Why would you need population control, after such a devastating catastrophe that killed millions already?"

"Because those who survived were consuming recourses too quickly."

"If that were really the case then why not just let natural selection do the work? Why put in the effort and waste already limited resources, to make something that is inevitable happen faster? Life has always found a way to survive on earth no matter the enormity of a cataclysmic event."

"If that wasn't the real purpose for the virus then what was? And why would they lie about releasing a brain-eating virus on an already burnt out- sick world? Doesn't that make them look untrustworthy?"

"They lied to cover up what the virus was really for. They even infected a North Carolina refugee camp to make it believable. Then WICKED said they were finding a "cure" and going to "right their wrong", in order to continue experiments, I mean they were finding a cure, but they were also continuing the original experiment. The first facility in Mexico, was built in secret a year before the sun flares and was to create the first virus. It didn't have a name because it wasn't like any other virus. It was an entirely new organism. They hadn't started human trials yet, the second facility, the MF, was built after the flare was released and took in immunes to study their reaction to the virus, the third, the Alaska Facility, was built to find a cure for the not-immune by studying the immunes brain patterns. WICKED wasn't even the original name of the organization. No one knows who the very first group of scientists were and what they called themselves. The Flare virus was released when the sun flares destroyed the first facility. The whole place was melted down. But the virus thrived in the heat. It was supposed to be a cell enhancing virus. It was a different form of bio-weaponry. But instead of it enhancing cells it eats away at them, specifically the ones in the brain. Immunes for some reason bond with the virus. And the virus grows, and changes within them. Then again some people aren't affected by any of the viruses at all. Still trying to figure that out."

"So you're saying my brother is an evolved immune, the Flare got its name after the sun flares to help make it seem like it was created after the catastrophe, an unknown organization was started before the flares to create super soldiers but didn't begin human trials because the sun flares released the Flare virus and infected people before they could, and then came along two more viruses that stemmed from the original Flare virus. They must have rebuilt the Mexico facility to serve as an experiment site."

"Yes, yes, yes and yes. Your brother is a Neocrank. The first male mutant of Flarvis 1. And you're a Celocrank. A male mutant of Flarvis 2. It's too early to tell how powerful you are but your brother has been perfecting his abilities since he was seven. And he's an amazing work of nature. He can withstand over 100,000 megatons of nuclear energy. That's more energy than the strongest nuclear weapon ever made. His power and ability to survive is incredible. He's a little insane though. "

"Why did he evolve so quickly? And why am I just now changing?"

"Nature can be unpredictable. Especially if you tamper with it."

"In other words you have no idea why we are evolving at different rates. Or why the first virus evolved and became two more viruses.

"Yeah no. We don't know."

"Okay then. Let me get this twin brother thing straight." I was pacing like Doc on a bad day.

"I have a younger twin brother named….?"

"Sergei."

"Sergei.. So we must be Russian."

"Muscovite." James said in an attempted Russian accent that was laced with his yorky slur.

"I have a younger brother named Sergei. We were originally born in Moscow and taken to the WICKED facility there. My brother and I are both immune and both evolving. But he's been evolving since he was seven. We were separated when we were five and I was working with WICKED up until two years ago in the Alaska Facility. They completely wiped my memory of him when I was transferred, making it seem like he had never existed."

"Wait I didn't know that part."

"Ssshhh. I'm trying to focus. What has he been doing all this time?"

"Being WICKED's lab rat. Favorite lab rat. WICKED is obsessed with him. And twins in general. They are a genetic gold mine." I stopped pacing.

"He's been experimented on for eleven years?" James nodded. I couldn't imagine. I had to save my brother.

"Now you can answer my questions. I only have a few." I gestured him to continue.

"You knew my brother right?" Of course he'd want to know.

"Then where is he? I know he wasn't immune but that doesn't mean he's dead. The virus can potentially take up to five years to kill. Is he here? Are you containing him? Did you leave him somewhere?" Telling him was the least I could do. If my brother was dead I would want to know.

"He's dead."

"But you don't know that for.."

"Yes I do." James stood up from the chair he was sitting in. He read the expression I was wearing.

"How? How do you know?"

"Because I killed him. I shot him. In the head." James went blue, his shaking hands held his head and he stumbled back into the wall. "James you have to.." Before I could finish Minho practically broke the door down and tackled me. He must have been listening in on the whole thing. His fists were swinging and cracking down on the side of my face. I must have pulsed because one minute he was on me and the next his back was up against the ceiling, then crashing to the ground. Still didn't understand how I could do it. Minho was slowly getting up when he snarled,

"You bastard. HOW COULD YOU DO IT!

"Minho. He asked me to. He _begged_ me to do it. He forced. My gun. To his head. And I finally pulled the trigger. Because I couldn't bear to see him waste away and die a monster. AND I HAVE TO LIVE WITH WHAT I DID FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!" Minho's eyes ablaze. James was in a ball on the floor. Brenda had her hand over her mouth. Doc was reading everyone's expressions and feeling a piece of each individual's pain. I backed up against and slid down the infirmary wall. And began to weep. It had been so long since I had shed actual tears. I rested my head in my hands. And a few minutes later Doc placed his hand on my shoulder and said,

"Perhaps it's time to find out if James and Newt really are twins." I nodded in agreement and pulled myself together. Minh turned away and walked out. Brenda had already left the room and James was completely still, spacing into the floor. I got up and walked passed him. The world around me had gone noiseless. I went into my room and pulled out an envelope that contained Newt's note from under the bed. Grief stung my heart as I reread Newt's death note. I rode the elevator back up to level 5. Doc was waiting for me in front of the door when I handed him the envelope.

"It will have my DNA on it too but his is there."

"All I have to do is see if there's a match to James' DNA."

"How will you be able to tell if there's a difference?"

"James is immune. Newt wasn't. That will show up in the sequences." He walked away and as he did, Minho walked over to me,

"I need to talk to you." I followed him to another side room in the lab and once we were inside he closed the door.

"Swear to me. You had no choice." He said with heavy breaths. I looked him straight in the eyes,

"I swear. I didn't have a choice." He released a deep sigh.

"I have to show you something." he walked over to a Holo-screen and pulled up a security video. The date showed it was recorded eight hours ago. When we were questioning James. And when I blacked out. He tapped the play arrow on the screen. The video showed me lifting off of the floor. And as I lifted, objects around the room began to levitate with me. They were spinning around me like asteroids revolving around Jupiter at high speeds. I saw Minho, Brenda, and James tumbling to the floor while covering their heads. Then I watched Minho tackle me. The objects dropped as I fell. He pushed "pause" on the screen. I looked at him with widened eyes.

"Celocrank….. Time to find out what's really going on." What he said was true. Before I could save my long lost twin and bring down WICKED for good, I needed to fully know what I was up against. What I was turning into. We found Brenda and James sitting with Doc looking up at the labs Holo-screen. They obviously hadn't noticed Minho and I standing behind them, because Doc turned to them and said,

"Don't tell Minho or Thomas." I grabbed his shoulder,

"Don't tell me or Minho what?" Doc scrambled to turn off the screen.

"What? Nothing. Nothing at all." He smiled. I smiled back, with a confused, crooked smile,

"Doc you're not. Keeping secrets from me are you?" I turned the screen back on. It showed what he was trying to hide. An image showing genes surrounded by a double helix DNA strand was on the screen that confirmed James is Newt's twin, but that's not what disturbed me. What disturbed me was that I could immediately tell whose DNA belonged to whom. James' DNA was flawless. The nucleotides were in pristine condition. But Newt's DNA had splice marks. Literally cut marks on the sides. Which meant a part of his DNA had been extracted.

"He was born immune wasn't he?" Doc looked down,

"Yes. They took out the codon that creates the Flare bonding protein. They made him susceptible so he could be the glue." I thought about all that WICKED had done. Orphaning me, my brother, and hundreds of other children, tearing apart families, wiping memories, torturing us for months some people even years, forcing me to kill one of my best friends who didn't even have to die, and making life a living hell. Just so they could attempt to clean up a mess they made while trying to create the perfect soldier. I had an instantaneous craving for revenge. And I sure as hell was gunna get it.


End file.
